About the SHD diploma

The diploma is made up of a partnership with health, social care, community justice and the children’s workforce. The key partners are:

SkillsActive leads on the SHD diploma on behalf of the children’s workforce network (CWN) and is responsible for ensuring the children’s workforce is represented throughout the development of the diploma by forming a policy group which feeds into the diploma development partnership

The diploma is designed to be a rigorous and challenging qualification for young people of all abilities, who may not find traditional academic learning stimulating.

The learning approaches adopted will be designed to stimulate the students to think, work and reflect through a mixture of approaches including:

• Applied learning e.g. assignments, case studies, interactive learning tools and ‘virtual learning environments’
• Work related learning including a period of work experience – 10 days at levels 1 and 2, 20 days at level 3

Staff in schools and colleges are being trained to approach their learning provision in innovative ways which will engage the interest of young people and provide them with a real choice of learning programme.

Achieving a diploma in society, health and development will help a young person progress to a range of degree courses, including those leading to playwork, early years, social work, nursing and other health professions, and teaching. It will also provide young people with the skills and knowledge to go into a large number of health and care apprenticeships and jobs, covering both children’s and adults’ services.

Below you will find additional information including a summary of the content of the SHD diploma. The content includes a wide range of topics such as the principles and values which underpin the work of the sector, the growth and development of individuals, health, wellbeing and lifestyle and partnership working.

The PDF documents linked below examine various elements of the diploma, if there is something you are looking for and the PDF documents do not answer your query, please contact uzma.ahmad@skillsactive.com for more information.

SHD brochure - which identifies the following areas;

• SHD Vision
• Qualification design principle
• Structure of the SHD diploma, brief overview
• Level 3 progression award
• Moving into higher education.

The principle learning (To be read in conjunction with PDFs below) covers;

• Learning outcomes for level 1, level 2 and level 3
• Information about occupational experience
• Curriculum advisory board (CAB)
• SHD diploma components

Structure of principal learning - The Purpose of this document is to set out the knowledge, understanding and skills requirement for the SHD at levels 1, 2 and 3. It also details a breakdown of the guided learning hours for the principal learning

Personal learning thinking skills mapped to SHD diploma - This details how the various PLTS’s are mapped to the SHD diploma.

The list of local authorities where the diploma will be offered is available here.